La Liga Match Preview: Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid

Barcelona incurred a major blow to their title hopes after they only obtained a draw against an otherwise struggling side Elche. This means that the Catalans will have to face Atletico Madrid in the final La Liga week with only one option: to win the fixture. Failure to do so (not a even a draw will make up for it) would completely axe them out of the championship.

Atletico, similarly, were held in a deadlock by Malaga. This put the side in a low-key position to strongly declare overall victory as they could be overtaken by the apparent runners up Barcelona when they meet at the Estadio Camp Nou on weekend.

Atletico lead Barcelona by three points following the two stalemates on La Liga week 37, but victory for Barca would give them their 23rd Liga crown on head-to-head basis. If the Gerardo Martino side are to do that, however, they will have to show a much more solid performance than what they displayed against Elche. For Los Colchoneros, a much better cohesion between their defense and goalkeeping should be campaigned in order to seal their triumph.

Majority of these sides’ past meetings ended in stalemates, save for the most recent one when an early Koke goal in the Champions League put Atletico in the lead (the result also helped Diego Simeone’s men advance into the UEFA tournament’s semi-finals and left Barca in the quarter-finals). By goal difference, however, Barcelona are ahead of their rivals by a good margin: 67 against 51.